Drunken driver involved in fatal wrong-way crash on I-79 sentenced to prison
Courtesy of Jamar Davis
Holly Davis of Canonsburg is shown with her son, Jamar, in this undated photo and above.
Kristina Rose Coyne
Family members of the Canonsburg woman killed in a wrong-way crash in 2021 appeared miffed over a plea agreement with the motorist who was driving drunk before the fatal crash, although they said at the defendant’s sentencing hearing Tuesday that they would still forgive her for her actions that night.
“I’m afraid to look at her,” Jamar Davis said in the courtroom as he stood merely feet away from Kristina Rose Coyne before her sentencing. “But, we forgive you. I wanted to look you in the eyes and forgive you. If the shoe was on the other foot, we would want grace and mercy.”
Holly Ann Davis
His mother, 56-year-old Holly Ann Davis, died Oct. 24, 2021, when a vehicle driven by Coyne speeding in the wrong direction on Interstate 79 crashed head-on into her vehicle near the Houston exit in North Strabane Township. Davis died at the scene, while Coyne was severely injured in the crash and had to be hospitalized for several weeks. Coyne’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was .20%, more than twice the legal limit to drive a vehicle.
Coyne, 28, of Washington, pleaded guilty in Washington County Court of Common Pleas on March 10 to one felony charge of homicide by vehicle and misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and reckless endangerment. However, she had been facing more serious felony charges, such as criminal homicide and homicide by vehicle while DUI that were withdrawn as part of the open plea. Judge Brandon Neuman agreed to move forward because the family apparently accepted the plea deal, and he sentenced Coyne to serve three to six years in state prison and pay a $1,000 fine as part of the pre-negotiated agreement.
Davis shook his head over the sentence that he called a “slap on the wrist” and openly questioned who on behalf of the family agreed to it.
“Who accepted it? What a joke,” Davis said.
After the sentencing, Deputy Assistant District Attorney John Friedmann said prosecutors were in contact with the family’s personal attorney, whom he said relayed the terms of the plea deal to them beforehand.
Despite being upset about the plea, Davis spoke lovingly about his mother, whom he described as a doting grandmother willing to help others in need and make people smile at every opportunity. Davis added that his mother was a certified nursing assistant for 35 years, doing a difficult job to helping patients.
“Life will never be the same for us,” Davis said.
He and others who spoke at the sentencing hearing took exception with Coyne’s behavior the night of the crash in which she was drinking beforehand at Frankie I’s bar in North Strabane and then got behind the wheel. Investigators said she somehow crossed the interstate median near the Southpointe interchange and drove the wrong way for five miles before striking’s the victim’s car.
“She was living it up, partying at Frankie I’s,” Davis said. “Why? Why? Why? What was running through your head is what we want to know.”
The victim’s other son, Treyvon Mullen, who was 16 at the time of the crash, discussed the “consequences” of Coyne’s actions forever affecting his family’s lives.
“I don’t wish this on anybody. I don’t wish this on your family,” Mullen said. “My mom was a good person. It’s just not fair.”
Before her sentencing, Coyne stood and spoke directly to the family, issuing them an emotional apology. She said it had been 534 days since she awoke from a coma in the hospital and learned that she had killed someone.
“I’ve spent 534 days trying to find the words to say to you, the words to say how devastatingly sorry I am for what I took from you,” Coyne said.
She said “remorse and regret” will be a life sentence for her knowing she took someone’s life and the pain it caused others.
“Not a day in my life will go by where I don’t think of her,” Coyne said about Davis. “You will never leave my heart. Holly will never leave my heart.”
Neuman’s courtroom was packed with family and friends of both Davis and the defendant, with both sides becoming emotional at times. After Neuman finalized the sentence, Coyne, who has been free on bond since she was charged in December 2021, was handcuffed by sheriff’s deputies and taken to the Washington County jail for processing before she is eventually housed in a state prison to serve her sentence.